The notion that oil motivates America's military engagements in the Middle East is often disregarded as nonsense or mere conspiracy theory. In Blood and Oil, bestselling author and Nation magazine defense correspondent Michael T. Klare challenges this conventional wisdom and corrects the historical record. The film unearths declassified documents and highlights forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines to show how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years -- rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable.
In the end, Blood and Oil calls for a radical re-thinking of US energy policy, warning that unless we change direction, we stand to be drawn into one oil war after another as the global hunt for diminishing world petroleum supplies accelerates.
From obscure cryptographic experiment to multibillion-dollar virtual currency, Bitcoin's sudden rise to fame has been steeped in controversy. As US authorities give it the green light for the first time, will Bitcoin become the foundation of a new global financial system, or will the bubble burst, proving to be one of the greatest Ponzi schemes in the history of mankind? Patrick Murck, General Counsel of the Bitcoin Foundation, joins Oksana to discuss these issues.
Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has created a beautiful, undeniably scary time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions which have taken place between 1945 and 1998, beginning with the Manhattan Project's "Trinity" test near Los Alamos and concluding with Pakistan's nuclear tests in May of 1998. This leaves out North Korea's two alleged nuclear tests in this past decade (the legitimacy of both of which is not 100% clear).
Each nation gets a blip and a flashing dot on the map whenever they detonate a nuclear weapon, with a running tally kept on the top and bottom bars of the screen. Hashimoto, who began the project in 2003, says that he created it with the goal of showing"the fear and folly of nuclear weapons." It starts really slow — if you want to see real action, skip ahead to 1962 or so — but the buildup becomes overwhelming.
The exact number of nuclear weapons in global arsenals is not known.
With little exception, each of the nine countries with nuclear weapons
guards these numbers as closely held national secrets. What is known,
however, is that more than a decade and a half after the Cold War ended,
the world's combined stockpile of nuclear warheads remain at
unacceptably high levels.
Hans Kristensen and Robert Norris of the Federation of American Scientists
are the leading experts in estimating the size of global nuclear
weapons inventories. The table is a compilation of their estimates and
analyses, with links to their full reports. These reports are published
in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and discussed further at the FAS Strategic Security Blog.
As the authors of these estimates note, the above numbers may not add
up due to rounding and uncertainty about the operational statuses and
size of the total inventories. For a full analysis of how the authors
arrived at their estimates, please view the provided links for the
complete reports.
These huge stockpiles come at great financial cost to the countries
that keep nuclear weapons. Even in the U.S., these costs area difficult
to determine but, through careful analysis, Ploughshares Fund has
released our best estimate of just how much nuclear weapons will cost the U.S. over the next ten years. Updated November 4, 2013.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google is paying $17 million to 37 states and the District of Columbia to make amends for the Internet search leader's snooping on millions of people using Safari Web browsers in 2011 and 2012.
The settlement announced Monday stems from a technological loophole that enabled Google's DoubleClick advertising network to shadow unwitting Safari users, even though the browser's maker, Apple Inc., prohibited the tracking without obtaining a person's permission. By following what Safari users were doing online, DoubleClick could gain more insights about what types of ads were most likely to appeal to different Safari users.
Nuclear power produces nearly 20% of Germany's energy, but in July 2011 (only three months after Fukushima) the German government vowed to shut down its nuclear capability within 10 years. Not just that, but to replace it with renewable energy, cut greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions by 40% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, ensure renewables contribute 80% of Germany's energy by 2050, and ensure energy consumption drops 20% by 2020 and 50% by 2050. It even has its own word: 'Energiewende', or 'Energy Transformation'. And Angela Merkel, not known for hyperbole, has described it as a 'Herculean task'.
The sight of thousands of kilometres of power cables slicing through the German countryside, and the costs involved, are beginning to bite. A renewable energy surcharge has already seen the average family's energy bill increase by 47% in the past two years.
There are also question marks over the transportation and storage of intermittent wind energy.
While a lot of the media attention has been focused on large-scale
wind farms (and Fischedick expects wind power to contribute half of the
80% renewable energy target by 2050), one of the most fascinating
aspects of Energiewende is how it embraces micro-generation and micro-ownership.
Public acceptance is, says Fischedick, much easier to maintain if it is
paralleled with levels of individual ownership. Also known as a
'prosumer' model, over 50% of renewable-energy capacity is owned by
individuals or farmers in Germany; the Big Four energy companies own
just 6.5% (according to 2010 figures). "This is PV, co-generation...
really small facilities," says Fischedick. "The prosumer aspect is
vitally important... if you only have the chance to look from outside at
the changes then you are much more [likely to be] complaining about
what is going on."
This in turn is causing the big utility
companies to reassess their role. Rather than continuing to rely on
business-as-usual, they are significantly ramping up investment in
biomass plants, offshore wind and large-scale photovoltaic plants,
informs Fischedick. "In addition we have some utility companies looking
at becoming a sort of service provider for the prosumer; RWE for
instance provide a new service for the typical house owner to help them
construct their own PV system on the roof, and to combine it with a
small-scale battery. They have really changed their business portfolio
in the last two years, just to be part of the game."
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Power and Water Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar has indicated that the government intends to invest in wind power to find a solution to the ever deepening energy crisis with at least 3,200 Mega Watts (MW) of power to be generated through it.
Mukhtar was addressing the launch ceremony of commemorative Postal stamp in Islamabad on inauguration of Pakistan’s first 50MW wind energy project by Fauji Fertiliser Company (FFC).
The minister said that 106MW is ready for commercial operation while projects to generate 150MW are under construction. He added that the next year will see at least 10 more projects with an investment of over $2 billion.
Mukhtar said that the commencement of commercial operation of FFC wind farm is the beginning of exploiting the wind potential of Gharo Keti Bandar Wind Corridor – an area that alone has 50,000MW power generation potential.
“I feel exalted that many more wind power projects are in pipeline and will commence their commercial operations one after another in the coming months,” he said.
Later during the day, Mukhtar told the media that a formal agreement has been reached between Pakistan Post and Alternate Energy Development Board to issue special postage stamp to save energy.
He said that the main reason for the current power crisis is the shortage of water in dams and assured that the government has taken adequate steps to overcome the shortfall.
Saudi Arabia plans to produce electricity from its first nuclear plant by 2020 and begin operating a solar farm by 2015, said an official at the agency developing the country’s renewable energy program.
Between 2004 and 2007 the Labour government gave the US National Security Agency permission to use information on innocent British people collected in the process of spying on actual targets.
According to a top secret memo I have seen, from within
the NSA and dated June 2007, Britain agreed the Americans could
"unminimise" British landline numbers as early as 2004. That means they
were not obliged to delete them, and could now use their systems to
analyse them.
By 2004 the Americans had clear reasons to be concerned about UK
citizens and terror. Shoe bomber Richard Reid was in a US jail; there
were nine Brits in Guantanamo.
These two documents are the first proof in black and white that an
agreement exists between Britain and the USA on the targeting of each
other's citizens (on the assumption, not confirmed, that Britain
gained the reciprocal right to use data collected on Americans in the
2007 agreement).
When, on May 10, 2013, scientists at Mauna Loa Observatory on the big island of Hawaii announced that global CO2 emissions had crossed a threshold at 400 parts per million for the first time in millions of years, a sense of dread spread around the world - not only among climate scientists.
A Saudi prince who murdered his servant at the culmination of a campaign of "sadistic" abuse was today jailed for life and lambasted by a judge for telling a "pack of lies" in an attempt to conceal his crimes.
Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, a grandson of the billionaire king of Saudi Arabia, was ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years for strangling and beating Bandar Abdulaziz to death at a five-star London hotel.
The prince bit the 32-year-old hard on both cheeks during the attack, which happened in their suite in February and was said to have had a sexual element.
He had been drinking champagne and cocktails when he began the ferocious beating after a Valentine's night out.
The Old Bailey had heard that the murder of Abdulaziz was the last act of a "deeply abusive" master-servant relationship in which the prince carried out frequent attacks on his aide "for his own personal gratification".
Saud initially believed he had diplomatic immunity, but his status as a Saudi royal could not save him from arrest and prosecution.
Sentencing him today, Mr Justice Bean said: "It is very unusual for a prince to be in the dock on a murder charge.
"No one in this country is above the law. It would be wrong for me to sentence you either more severely or more leniently because of your membership of the Saudi royal family."
During the trial, jurors were told that, by the early hours of 15 February, Abdulaziz was so worn down and injured he let Saud kill him without a fight.
The prince then spent hours on the phone to a contact in Saudi Arabia, trying to decide how to cover up his crime.
Bean said Saud had told a "pack of lies" to paramedics and police before finally admitting that he carried out the killing. He said he could not be sure whether Saud had intended to kill Abdulaziz, but added: "I think the most likely explanation is that you could not care less whether you killed him or not."
He told Saud he had treated his victim "as a human punchbag" and had never shown any regret. "If you had any remorse, you would have sought medical help immediately. But you were only concerned for yourself," he said.
The 34-year-old prince, who stood in the dock with his arms crossed, showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down.
He was found guilty of murder yesterday after the jury had deliberated for an hour and 35 minutes. He was also convicted of a second count of grievous bodily harm with intent, relating to a previous incident in a lift at the Landmark hotel, in Marylebone, London, where the men were staying.
Saud tried to conceal the true nature of his relationship with his servant, claiming they were "friends and equals", but a porter at the hotel said Abdulaziz was treated "like a slave".
The prince claimed he was heterosexual and had a girlfriend in Saudi Arabia, but he had booked appointments with at least two male escorts and one gay masseur and looked at hundreds of images of men on gay websites.
Photographs of Abdulaziz in "compromising" positions were found on his phone.
Saud denied killing his servant until shortly before the trial, when he admitted he had caused his death. Jurors rejected a claim by his barrister, John Kelsey-Fry QC, that Saud was guilty only of manslaughter.
His lawyers also failed in a last-ditch attempt to stop details of his encounters with male escorts being revealed during the trial. In a sign of the anxiety about his sexuality becoming public, the prince's legal team initially argued that the legal argument about the escorts should be held behind closed doors.
This article will examine the challenges to Germany’s policy of nuclear abandonment. Though Germany has made extraordinary moves away from their nuclear program, a full move will be riddled with trials that other countries contemplating such a move could face as well. Germany’s success or failure will likely set the course for the future of renewable energy in Europe and abroad.
Seventeen cabinet ministers voted on Sunday to support a bill brought by a right-wing MP in response to a Supreme Court ruling that would have allowed an Arab nurse to move into a Jewish village in the north of the country.
Israel has agreed to return organs of dead Palestinians harvested by its forensic pathologists during autopsies, Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh told Ma’an news agency on Wednesday.
Head of Israel's Abu Kabir forensic institute, Jehuda Hiss, had admitted harvesting organs from dead bodies without the permission of their families.
“We started to harvest corneas ... Whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family,” Hiss said in an interview with an American academic in 2000. The interview was released in 2010 and part of it was aired by Israel's Channel 2 TV.
The Channel 2 report said forensic experts harvested bones, corneas, heart valves and skin from dead Israeli soldiers, citizens, Palestinians and even foreign workers.
The Israeli army admitted to organ harvesting but said the practice was no longer performed. “This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer,” the military told Channel 2.
In the interview, Hiss described how his doctors would mask the removal of corneas from bodies. “We'd glue the eyelid shut,” he said. “We wouldn't take corneas from families we knew would open the eyelids,” Associated Press reported.
The Palestinian official said Israel will “soon be returning some of the organs,” Ma’an reported.
Last Update: Thursday, 14 November 2013 KSA 00:33 - GMT 21:33
Published on Aug 19, 2013
Tossavainen: Anti-Israelism and Anti-Semitism in Sweden
Dr. Mikael Tossavainen obtained his Ph.D. in history from Lund University, Sweden. Tossavainen's earlier research focused on anti-Semitism, historiography, and the connection between nationalism and religion. He was research director of the Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism Project at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. - See more at: http://jcpa.org/researcher/mikael-tos...
JERUSALEM — Israel and the Swedish Embassy responded furiously Wednesday to a Swedish newspaper article that suggested Israeli troops killed Palestinians and harvested their organs.
The article published Monday in Aftonbladet, Sweden's largest circulation daily, implies a link between those charges and the recent arrest in the U.S. of an American Jew for illicit organ trafficking. Later the reporter told Israel Radio he did not know if the allegations were true
Ian Black, Middle East editor
The Guardian, Monday 21 December 2009
Israel has admitted pathologists harvested organs from dead Palestinians, and others, without the consent of their families – a practice it said ended in the 1990s – it emerged at the weekend.
The admission, by the former head of the country's forensic institute, followed a furious row prompted by a Swedish newspaper reporting that Israel was killing Palestinians in order to use their organs – a charge that Israel denied and called "antisemitic".
The revelation, in a television documentary, is likely to generate anger in the Arab and Muslim world and reinforce sinister stereotypes of Israel and its attitude to Palestinians. Iran's state-run Press TV tonight reported the story, illustrated with photographs of dead or badly injured Palestinians.
Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli Arab MP, said the report incriminated the Israeli army.
The story emerged in an interview with Dr Yehuda Hiss, former head of the Abu Kabir forensic institute near Tel Aviv. The interview was conducted in 2000 by an American academic who released it because of the row between Israel and Sweden over a report in the Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet.
Channel 2 TV reported that in the 1990s, specialists at Abu Kabir harvested skin, corneas, heart valves and bones from the bodies of Israeli soldiers, Israeli citizens, Palestinians and foreign workers, often without permission from relatives.
The Israeli military confirmed to the programme that the practice took place, but added: "This activity ended a decade ago and does not happen any longer."
Hiss said: "We started to harvest corneas ... whatever was done was highly informal. No permission was asked from the family."
However, there was no evidence that Israel had killed Palestinians to take their organs, as the Swedish paper reported. Aftonbladet quoted Palestinians as saying young men from the West Bank and Gaza Strip had been seized by the Israeli forces and their bodies returned to their families with missing organs. The interview with Hiss was released by Nancy Scheper-Hughes, professor of anthropology at the University of California-Berkeley who had conducted a study of Abu Kabir.
She was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that while Palestinians were "by a long shot" not the only ones affected, she felt the interview must be made public, because "the symbolism, you know, of taking skin of the population considered to be the enemy, [is] something, just in terms of its symbolic weight, that has to be reconsidered."
Israel demanded that Sweden condemn the Aftonbladet article, calling it an antisemitic "blood libel". Stockholm refused, saying that to so would violate freedom of speech in the country. The foreign minister then cancelled a visit to Israel, just as Sweden was taking over the EU's rotating presidency.
Hiss was removed from his post in 2004, when some details about organ harvesting were first reported, but he still works at the forensic institute.
Israel's health ministry said all harvesting was now done with permission. "The guidelines at that time were not clear," it said in a statement to Channel 2. "For the last 10 years, Abu Kabir has been working according to ethics and Jewish law."
• This article was amended on 21 December 2009. The headline was changed as it did not reflect accurately the contents of the story. Nancy Scheper-Hughes's name was misspelled as Nancy Sheppard-Hughes in the original text.
Reuters | Posted: 11/18/2013 4:00 pm EST | Updated: 11/18/2013 5:42 pm EST
By Manuel Mogato and Aubrey Belford
MANILA/TACLOBAN, Philippines, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. military's response to the devastation wrought by one of the world's most powerful typhoons has been breathtaking.
About 50 U.S. ships and aircraft have been mobilized in the disaster zone, including 10 C-130 transport planes, 12 V-22 Ospreys and 14 Seahawk helicopters air-dropping supplies from an aircraft carrier.
The accelerating relief efforts underscore a fast-expanding U.S.-Philippine military alliance that could grow even stronger in the wake of the catastrophe as the United States pursues its "pivot" towards Asia.
As U.S. ships deliver food, water and medicine, they are also delivering goodwill that could ease the way for the United States to strengthen its often-controversial military presence in one of Southeast Asia's most strategic countries.
"It is not that the United States used assistance to promote rebalancing, but that rebalancing enabled to the U.S. to respond so decisively," said Asia security expert Carl Thayer.
The Philippines is one of Washington's closest allies in Asia and a crucial partner in President Barack Obama's strategy to rebalance U.S. military forces towards the region to counter the rising influence of China.
This video is in the public domain. The producers have waived their copyright to this video. Listen to a post production conversation between the producers by clicking on this mp3: https://soundcloud.com/eonitao-state/...
Cora Currier writes for ProPublica via Juan Cole
The United States is loosening controls over military exports, in a shift that former U.S. officials and human rights advocates say could increase the flow of American-made military parts to the world’s conflicts and make it harder to enforce arms sanctions.
Come tomorrow, thousands of parts of military aircraft, such as propeller blades, brake pads and tires will be able to be sent to almost any country in the world, with minimal oversight – even to some countries subject to U.N. arms embargos. U.S. companies will also face fewer checks than in the past when selling some military aircraft to dozens of countries.
Critics, including some who’ve worked on enforcing arms export laws, say the changes could undermine efforts to prevent arms smuggling to Iran and others.
Brake pads may sound innocuous, but “the Iranians are constantly looking for spare parts for old U.S. jets,” said Steven Pelak, who recently left the Department of Justice after six years overseeing investigations and prosecutions of export violations.
“It’s going to be easier for these military items to flow, harder to get a heads-up on their movements, and, in theory, easier for a smuggling ring to move weapons,” said William Hartung, author of a recent report on the topic for the Center for International Policy.
In the current system, every manufacturer and exporter of military equipment has to register with the State Department and get a license for each planned export. U.S. officials scrutinize each proposed deal to make sure the receiving country isn’t violating human rights and to determine the risk of the shipment winding up with terrorists or another questionable group.
Under the new system, whole categories of equipment encompassing tens of thousands of items will move to the Commerce Department, where they will be under more “flexible” controls. Final rules have been issued for six of 19 categories of equipment and more will roll out in the coming months. Some military equipment, such as fighter jets, drones, and other systems and parts, will stay under the State Department’s tighter oversight.
Commerce will do interagency human rights reviews before allowing exports, but only as a matter of policy, whereas in the State Department it is required by law.
The switch from State to Commerce represents a big win for defense manufacturers, who have long lobbied in favor of relaxing U.S. export rules, which they say put a damper on international trade. Among the companies that recently lobbied on the issue: Lockheed, which manufactures C-130 transport planes, Textron, which makes Kiowa Warrior helicopters, and Honeywell, which outfits military choppers.
Overall, industry trade groups and big defense companies have spent roughly $170 million over the last three years lobbying on a variety of issues, including export control reform, a ProPublica analysis of disclosure forms shows.
The administration says in a factsheet that “spending time and resources protecting a specialty bolt diverts resources from protecting truly sensitive items,” and that the effort will allow them to build “higher fences around fewer items.” Commerce says it will beef up its enforcement wing to prevent illegal re-exports or shipments to banned entities. The military has also supported the relaxed controls, arguing that the changes will make it easier to arm foreign allies.
An interview with Commerce Department officials was canceled due to the government shutdown, and the State Department did not respond to questions.
The shift is part of a larger administration initiative to update the arms export process, which many acknowledge needed to be streamlined. But critics of the move to Commerce say that decision has been overly driven by the interests of defense manufacturers.
“They’ve cut through the fat, into the meat, and to the bone,” said Brittany Benowitz, who was defense adviser to former Senator Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., and recently co-authored a paper on the pending changes.
“I think it’s fair to say that the views of the enforcement agencies and actors charged with carrying out the controls haven’t won the day,” said Pelak, the former Justice Department official.
Current controls haven’t prevented the U.S. from dominating arms exports up to now: In 2011, the U.S. concluded $66 billion in arms sales agreements, nearly 80 percent of the global market. The State Department denied just one percent of arms export licenses between 2008 and 2010.
At a recent hearing, a State Department official touted the economic benefits, saying the “defense industry is going to become even more competitive than they are already.”
Under the new policy, military helicopters, transport planes and other types of military equipment that typically need approval may be eligible for license-free export to 36 allied governments, including much of Europe, Argentina, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand.
According to Colby Goodman, an arms-control expert with the Open Society Policy Center, once an item is approved for that exemption, it’s not clear that there will be any ongoing, country-specific human rights review. (The State Department hasn’t yet responded to our request for comment on that point.)
Goodman is particularly concerned about Turkey, where in the last year authorities violently suppressed protests and “security forces committed unlawful killings,” according to the most recent State Department Human Rights report.
Under the new system, some military parts can now be sent license-free to any country besides China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria. Other parts that are deemed not “specially designed” for military use, while also initially banned from those countries, have even fewer restrictions on re-exports.
Spare parts are in high demand from sanctioned countries and groups, which need them to keep old equipment up and running, according to arms control researchers. Indonesia scrambled to keep its C-130s in the air after the U.S. blocked exports for human rights violations in the 1990s. In a report on trade in arms parts, Oxfam noted that by the time of the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya, Muammar Qaddafi’s air combat fleet was in dire shape, referred to by one analyst as “the world’s largest military parking lot.” Goodman said Congolese militia members may be using aging arms that the U.S. sold decades ago to the former Zaire.
Pelak says the changes will make enforcement harder by getting rid of part of the paper trail as parts and munitions exit the U.S.: “When you take away that licensing record, you put the investigation overseas.” His office handled dozens of cases each year in which military items had been diverted to prohibited countries. The Government Accountability Office raised concerns last year about Commerce’s enforcement abilities as it takes control of exports that once went through the State Department.
The president is authorized – in fact, required – to revise the list of items under State Department control. But the massive shift to Commerce means that laws and regulations that were designed with the longstanding State Department system in place may now be up to presidential prerogative.
Vetting for human rights compliance is one such requirement. The Commerce Department said it will also continue to publicly report the sales of so-called “major defense equipment.”
Other laws may not get carried over, however. For example, if firearms are moved to Commerce, manufacturers may no longer have to notify Congress of foreign sales.
Several organizations, including the Center for International Policy, the Open Society Policy Center, and the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights, have called on the administration to hold off moving some military items from the State Department, and have asked Congress to apply State’s reporting requirements and restrictions to more of the military items and parts soon to be under Commerce control.
In one area, the administration does appear to have temporarily backed off – firearms and ammunition. Any decision to loosen exports for firearms could have conflicted with the president’s call for enhanced domestic gun control.
According to a memo obtained by the Wall Street Journal last spring, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security both opposed draft versions of revisions to the firearms category. (The Justice Department press office is out of operation due to the government shutdown, and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.) Shifting firearms was also likely to be a lightning rod for arms control groups. As the New York Times’ C.J. Chivers has documented, small arms trafficking has been the scourge of conflicts around the world.
Draft rules for firearms and ammunitions were ready in mid-2012, according to Lawrence Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade group for gun manufacturers. The Commerce Department even sent representatives to an industry export conference to preview manufacturers on the new system they might fall under.
But since the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., last December, no proposed rule has been published.
Keane thinks the connection is irrelevant. “This has nothing to do with domestic gun control legislation. We’re talking about exports,” he said. “Our products have not moved forward, and we’re disappointed by that.”
The defense industry has long pushed for a loosening of the U.S. export controls. Initial wish-lists were aimed at restructuring and speeding up the State Department system, where the wait for a license had sometimes stretched to months. The current focus on moving items to Commerce began under the Obama administration.
The aerospace industry has been particularly active, as new rules for aircraft are the first to take effect. Commercial satellites had been moved briefly to Commerce in the 1990s, but when U.S. space companies were caught giving technical data to China in 1998, Congress returned them to State control. Last year, satellite makers successfully lobbied Congress to lift satellite-specific rules that had kept them from being eligible for the reforms.
Newer industries want to cash in, too. Virgin Galactic wrote in a comment on a proposed rule that the “nascent but growing” space tourism industry was hindered by current rules. At a conference in 2011, the chief executive of Northrup Grumman warned of “the U.S. drone aircraft industry losing its dominance” if exports weren’t boosted. (Drones are regulated under missile technology controls, and are mostly unaffected by the current changes.)
Lauren Airey, of the National Association of Manufacturers, named two main objections to the current system. First off, fees: Any company that makes a product on the State Department list has to be registered whether or not they actually export, with yearly costs starting at $2,500. There’s no fee for the Commerce list.
Secondly, any equipment that contains a listed part gets “lifetime controls,” Airey said. If a buyer wants to resell something, even for scrap, they need U.S. approval. (For example, the U.S. is currently debating whether to let Turkey re-sell American attack helicopters to Pakistan.) Under Commerce, “there are still limitations, but they are more flexible,” Airey said.
Airey’s association (and other trade groups) makes the case that foreign competitors are “taking advantage of perceived and real issues in U.S. export controls to promote foreign parts and components – advertising themselves as State-Department-free.” Airey demurred when asked for an estimate on the amount of business lost: “It’s hard to put a number directly on how much export controls cause U.S. companies to be avoided.”
An Aerospace Industries Association executive noted at a panel this spring, “We really did not move the needle at all by complaining about the fact that we weren’t making as much money as we wanted to.”
But at a recent hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, members of Congress highlighted economic impact.
“In my district in Rhode Island,” said David Cicilline, D-R.I., “as many of our defense companies are looking to expand their business, really, to respond to declines in defense domestic spending, international sales are becoming even more important and really critical…to the job growth in my state.”
William Keating, D-Mass., said that “with declining defense budgets, arms sales are even more critical to the defense industry in my state to maintain production lines and keep jobs.”
“That would not have been the response a decade ago,” said one staffer who works on the issue. “National security hawks would have been worried about defense items moving to the Commerce list. The environment on the Hill has dramatically changed.”
One concern came from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, which believes that easing controls on military technology and software could actually lead to more outsourcing of production. William Lowell, who spent a decade of his 30 years at the State Department directing defense trade controls, told ProPublica that the move represents a major shift in the U.S. attitude towards international arms trade. U.S. policy has long been aimed at “denying the entry of U.S. military articles of any type into the international gray arms market – for which small arms and military parts are the lifeblood,” Lowell wrote in comments opposing the new rules. “Commercial arms exports have never been considered normal commercial trade.” Follow @coracurrier
U.N. Arms Trade Treaty...Not only would it violate Texans’ Second Amendment rights, including the right to self defense, it also raises U.S. sovereignty and national security concerns.
Senator John Cornyn
On 2 April 2013, the General Assembly adopted the landmark Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), regulating the international trade in conventional arms, from small arms to battle tanks, combat aircraft and warships. The treaty will foster peace and security by putting a stop to destabilizing arms flows to conflict regions. It will prevent human rights abusers and violators of the law of war from being supplied with arms. And it will help keep warlords, pirates, and gangs from acquiring these deadly tools.
Cody R Wilson has figured out how to print a semi-automatic rifle from the comfort of his own home. Now he's putting all the information online so that others will join him.
--
This is a story about the rapid evolution of a technology that has forced the American legal system to play catch up. Cody Wilson, a 25 year old University of Texas Law student, is an advocate for the open source production of firearms using 3D printing technology. This makes him a highly controversial figure on both sides of the gun control issue. MOTHERBOARD sat down with Cody in Austin, Texas to talk about the constitution, the legal system, and to watch him make and test-fire a 3D-printed gun.
How does the Liberator works ?
The 3d printed gun (all made of plastic with a printer) designed by Defense Distributed is here modeled and animated with Solidworks to show its functionality.
Springs are not animated properly,
Published on May 7, 2013
Defense Distributed has made good on their promise to produce and fire the world's first fully 3D-printed gun. Anthony looks at the impact this might have on our lives.
Read More:
Meet The "Liberator": Test-Firing The World's First Fully 3D-Printed Gun http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreen...
"Before "three" arrives, a shot reverberates across the overcast central Texas landscape."
World's First 3D-Printed Gun Fired on Video http://mashable.com/2013/05/06/3d-pri...
"Can guns really be 3D-printed? The answer to that question is a simple yes. If you don't believe it, just watch Cody Wilson, the man behind the world's first 3D-printed gun, firing the weapon on video."
First 3D-Printed Gun Fired http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/world...
"A gun has been produced using a 3D-printer in a world first that has prompted concerns that the regulation of firearms may soon be impossible."
What You Need To Know About The Liberator 3D-Printed Pistol http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/06/what...
"Now that we have confirmation that the Liberator 3D-printed pistol can be fired without destroying the body, let's address what this means for 3D printed weapons and, presumably, homemade weapons in general."
3-D Printer Company Seizes Machine From Desktop Gunsmith http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/...
"Cody Wilson planned in the coming weeks to make and test a 3-D printed pistol."
Published on May 13, 2013
Inventor of 3D Printer Guns Shut Down By Government - Cody Wilson's Interview with Jacari Jackson
Cody Wilson's on the air anouncement of the 3D Guns Printer guns anouncement can be seen on the video here: http://youtu.be/m5an-j3D190
Cody Wilson - Inventor of 3D Printer Guns Gets Shut Down By Government
3D printing guru Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed announced that the US Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance, Enforcement Division (DTCC/END) had sent him a letter requesting the group remove all data supposedly in violation of the Arms Export Control Act from public access immediately on his website at http://defcad.org.
The State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls (DTCC) have shut down the Austin Texas based 3D printing company.
"I think information will be free, and it wants to be." Cody said May 9th, 2012 when the State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls Compliance (DTCC) Enforcement Division had issued a take down notice to Austin-based 3D gun printing company Defense Distributed declaring the group's open distribution of 3D gun part files on the Internet potentially violated export laws explicit in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR.
The notice came just days after the group finally managed a fully-functional gun using mainly parts printed from a 3D printer, and aimed to have Defense Distributed take down the offending files and cite their "procedures for determining proper jurisdiction of technical data," data which, at this point the DTCC says, could be in violation of § 127.1 of the ITAR.
"As an arms manufacturer, we registered ITAR, but we thought since Defense Distributed would be a non-profit software company; we could not have to register for ITAR because we were just a software company and not interested in actual trade of arms, and then number 2, we could basically claim a public domain exemption from the ITAR and we wouldn't have to ask permission to put the files up for download."
Gun-related files, Wilson claims, are already regulated and must be permitted before they can be distributed online, but since the beginning, the group has tried to avoid asking government for permission, not to flout the laws, but because they believed they met public domain exemptions.
According to Wilson, the fact that the DTCC cites specific pieces of the ITAR is an indication that they may plan to bring criminal prosecutions of civil penalties against the group.
"So it's not a good day for the project, but it was expected, and we released, especially the Liberator, in such a good way that it's definitely online forever and, especially with news of this censorship, I don't think it will ever disappear. So that's a success even if Defense Distributed or DefCad is somehow indefinitely shut down."
Wilson says the group knew what they were up against long before the project even started by studying the case of Phil Zimmermann, the inventor of the Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption program who in 1993 was under investigation by the United States Customs Service.
Similarly, in that case, law enforcement wanted to see if Zimmermann's software violated federal arms-export laws because the technology could be considered a munition in that, being readily available online, it made it too difficult to determine what kinds of files, transactions and emails were being exchanged and what countries they came from and went to.
As was the case with Zimmermann, Wilson hoped the popularization and widespread distribution of his group's gun files would lead the State Department to reconsider, if not altogether dump, an investigative effort.
"And to me, I understand that this software seems more closely related to guns so it might be a different case, but the parallels seemed pretty strong. At the end of the day, these are just bits, they're not actual bombs."
The frantic rush to regulate the data was no doubt accelerated by Defense Distributed's recent successes -- printable 30-round AR magazines and lower receivers that could withstand more than 650 rounds and of course their latest conquest, the single-shot pistol known as the Liberator.
In a case that is drawing comparisons to George Zimmerman’s killing of Trayvon Martin in a gated Florida community, a white homeowner in suburban Detroit
was charged Friday with second-degree murder in the shooting death of
an unarmed young black woman who came to his front door in the middle of
the night two weeks ago.
Published on Apr 5, 2012
If you value what is presented in this movie, please go to http://thrivemovement.com/
where you can support Thrive Movement by making a donation. You will
also find more in-depth information on each of the subjects discussed in
the movie, learn about Critical Mass initiatives supported by Thrive,
and connect with others who are waking up and taking action.
Film Synopsis:
THRIVE
is an unconventional documentary that lifts the veil on what's REALLY
going on in our world by following the money upstream -- uncovering the
global consolidation of power in nearly every aspect of our lives.
Weaving together breakthroughs in science, consciousness and activism,
THRIVE offers real solutions, empowering us with unprecedented and bold
strategies for reclaiming our lives and our future.
Things went well enough at Liberation Square (formerly Green Square),
but then the protesters marched on other districts of the capital. At
Gharghur in Northern Tripoli, they were attacked by militiamen, some of
whom used heavy weaponry against the peaceful, unarmed protesters.
Thirty-four were killed and hundreds wounded.
Prime Minister Aii Zeidan first came out and announced there had been
clashes between two armed groups. Then he retracted and recognized the
reality, that innocent civilians had been slaughtered.
Zeidan and the Libyan government in general have been too slow to
build up a new army for the country and to move away from militia rule.
The degree to which the West has for the most part abandoned Zeidan is
also evident.
Karen shows her strength, fighting the good fight.
Published on Sep 8, 2013
Senior Counsel for the World Bank legal department reports corruption to US Congress, the World Bank's other member countries, and the public. https://twitter.com/KarenHudes
Karen Hudes studied law at Yale Law School and economics at the University of Amsterdam. She worked in the US Export Import Bank from 1980-1985 and in the Legal Department of the World Bank from 1986-2007. She established the Non Governmental Organization Committee of the International Law Section of the American Bar Association and the Committee on Multilateralism and the Accountability of International Organizations of the American Branch of the International Law Association. What did Karen Hudes blow the whistle on? In 2007 Karen warned the US Treasury Department and US Congress that the US would lose its right to appoint the President of the World Bank if the current American President of the World Bank did not play by the rules. http://kahudes.net/
Published on Oct 8, 2013
The US government shutdown - a
temporary ailment or a symptom of a grave disease? Are the Republicans
right in their move to block Obamacare spending? Who gains from the
shutdown turmoil? Do the politicians care about their citizens? Our
guest comes from the very heart of the banking system: Karen Hudes was
World Bank lawyer when she blew the whistle on major corruption cases in
the system and was fired as a result.
An obelisk (from Greekὀβελίσκος - obeliskos,[1] diminutive of ὀβελός - obelos, "spit, nail, pointed pillar"[2]) is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top. Like Egyptian pyramids,
whose shape is thought to be representative of the descending rays of
the sun, an obelisk is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk.
A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon. Ancient obelisks were often monolithic, whereas most modern obelisks are made of several stones and can have interior spaces.
The term stele (plural: stelae) is generally used for other monumental standing inscribed sculpted stones.
Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, who placed them in pairs at the entrance of temples. The word "obelisk" as used in English today is of Greek rather than Egyptian origin because Herodotus,
the Greek traveller, was one of the first classical writers to describe
the objects. A number of ancient Egyptian obelisks are known to have
survived, plus the "Unfinished Obelisk" found partly hewn from its quarry at Aswan. These obelisks are now dispersed around the world, and fewer than half of them remain in Egypt.
The earliest temple obelisk still in its original position is the 68-foot (20.7 m) 120-ton[3] red granite Obelisk of Senusret I of the XIIthDynasty at Al-Matariyyah part of Heliopolis.[4]
The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra, and during the brief religious reformation of Akhenaten was said to be a petrified ray of the Aten, the sundisk. It was also thought that the god existed within the structure.
It is hypothesized by New York UniversityEgyptologist Patricia Blackwell Gary and Astronomy senior editor Richard Talcott that the shapes of the ancient Egyptianpyramid and obelisk were derived from natural phenomena associated with the sun (the sun-god Ra being the Egyptians' greatest deity).[5] The pyramid and obelisk might have been inspired by previously overlooked astronomical phenomena connected with sunrise and sunset: the zodiacal light and sun pillars respectively.
The Ancient Romans were strongly influenced by the obelisk form, to
the extent that there are now more than twice as many obelisks standing
in Rome as remain in Egypt. All fell after the Roman period except for
the Vatican obelisk and were re-erected in different locations.
The tallest Egyptian obelisk is in the square in front of the Lateran Basilica in Rome at 105.6 feet (32.2 m) tall and a weight of 455 tons.[6]
Not all the Egyptian obelisks in the Roman Empire were set up at Rome. Herod the Great imitated his Roman patrons and set up a red granite Egyptian obelisk in the hippodrome of his new city Caesarea in northern Judea. This one is about 40 feet (12 m) tall and weighs about 100 tons.[7] It was discovered by archaeologists and has been re-erected at its former site.
In Constantinople, the Eastern Emperor Theodosius shipped an obelisk in AD 390 and had it set up in his hippodrome, where it has weathered Crusaders and Seljuks and stands in the Hippodrome square in modern Istanbul.
This one stood 95 feet (29 m) tall and weighing 380 tons. Its lower
half reputedly also once stood in Istanbul but is now lost. The Istanbul
obelisk is 65 feet (20 m) tall.[8]
Rome is the obelisk capital of the world. The most prominent is the 25 metres (82 ft), 331-ton obelisk at Saint Peter's Square in Rome.[6] The obelisk had stood since AD 37 on its site on the wall of the Circus of Nero, flanking St Peter's Basilica:
"The elder Pliny in his Natural History
refers to the obelisk's transportation from Egypt to Rome by order of
the Emperor Gaius (Caligula) as an outstanding event. The barge that
carried it had a huge mast of fir wood which four men's arms could not
encircle. One hundred and twenty bushels of lentils were needed for
ballast. Having fulfilled its purpose, the gigantic vessel was no longer
wanted. Therefore, filled with stones and cement, it was sunk to form
the foundations of the foremost quay of the new harbour at Ostia."[9]
Re-erecting the obelisk had daunted even Michelangelo,
but Sixtus V was determined to erect it in front of St Peter's, of
which the nave was yet to be built. He had a full-sized wooden mock-up
erected within months of his election. Domenico Fontana, the assistant of Giacomo Della Porta
in the Basilica's construction, presented the Pope with a little model
crane of wood and a heavy little obelisk of lead, which Sixtus himself
was able to raise by turning a little winch with his finger. Fontana was
given the project.
The obelisk, half-buried in the debris of the ages, was first
excavated as it stood; then it took from April 30 to May 17, 1586 to
move it on rollers to the Piazza: it required nearly 1000 men, 140
carthorses, and 47 cranes. The re-erection, scheduled for September 14,
the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross,
was watched by a large crowd. It was a famous feat of engineering,
which made the reputation of Fontana, who detailed it in a book
illustrated with copperplate etchings, Della Trasportatione dell'Obelisco Vaticano et delle Fabriche di Nostro Signore Papa Sisto V (1590),[10][11]
which itself set a new standard in communicating technical information
and influenced subsequent architectural publications by its meticulous
precision.[12]
Before being re-erected the obelisk was exorcised. It is said that
Fontana had teams of relay horses to make his getaway if the enterprise
failed. When Carlo Maderno came to build the Basilica's nave, he had to put the slightest kink in its axis, to line it precisely with the obelisk.
An obelisk stands in front of the church of Trinità dei Monti, at the head of the Spanish Steps. Another obelisk in Rome is sculpted as carried on the back of an elephant.
Rome lost one of its obelisks, which had decorated the temple of Isis,
where it was uncovered in the 16th century. The Medici claimed it for
the Villa Medici, but in 1790 they moved it to the Boboli Gardens attached to the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and left a replica in its stead.
Several more Egyptian obelisks have been re-erected elsewhere. The
best-known examples outside Rome are the pair of 21-metre 187-ton Cleopatra's Needles in London (69 ft) and New York City (70 ft) and the 75-foot (23 m) 227-ton obelisk at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.[13]
Anti-fracking protesters from all
over Romania have been galvanized US energy giant Chevron's plan to
start drilling outside the village of Pungetsi. While the energy firm
has Bucharest's blessing, people have come together to take a stand
against the potential health and environmental risks of hydraulic
fracturing in the region.
Mainstream political commentators tend either to pretend Chomsky doesn't exist, or to dismiss him as a lunatic. I think this is probably because to even enter into debate with him requires one to abandon the narrative conventions, described by the parentheses of "liberal" and "conservative", that determine what is an acceptable thought.
Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky demolish one of the central tenets of our political culture, the idea of the "liberal media." Instead, utilizing a systematic model based on massive empirical research, they reveal the manner in which the news media are so subordinated to corporate and conservative interests that their function can only be described as that of "elite propaganda."
"If you want to understand the way a system works, you look at its institutional structure. How it is organized, how it is controlled, how it is funded."
-Noam Chomsky
"The Mainstream media really represent elite interests, and what the propaganda model tries to do is stipulate a set of institutional variables, reflecting this elite power, that very powerfully influence the media."
-Edward Herman
Picasso was baptized Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruizy Picasso but known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 -- 8 April 1973) was a Spanish expatriatepainter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century. He is widely known for co-founding the Cubist movement and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
The enormous body of Picasso's work remains, and the legend lives on a tribute to the vitality of the "disquieting" Spaniard with the "sombre...piercing" eyes who superstitiously believed that work would keep him alive. For nearly 80 of his 91 years Picasso devoted himself to an artistic production that contributed significantly to and paralleled the whole development of modern art in the 20th century.
Picasso's art from the time of the Demoiselles was radical in nature, virtually no 20th-century artist could escape his influence. Moreover, while other masters such as Matisse or Braque tended to stay within the bounds of a style they had developed in their youth, Picasso continued to be an innovator into the last decade of his life. This led to misunderstanding and criticism both in his lifetime and since, and it was only in the 1980s that his last paintings began to be appreciated both in themselves and for their profound influence on the rising generation of young painters. Since Picasso was able from the 1920s to sell works at very high prices, he could keep most of his oeuvre in his own collection. At the time of his death he owned some 50,000 works in various media from every period of his career, which passed into possession of the French state and his heirs. Their exhibition and publication has served to reinforce the highest estimates of Picasso's astonishing powers of invention and execution over a span of more than 80 years.
All submissions should be your original work. Please do not
simply copy/paste information (online articles, links, etc.) and submit
it as-is. (Excerpts from, or links to, other material may be used within
the article, and should be cited appropriately.) Writing Guidelines (click to see examples): Announcement -- General announcements, major events, procedural or structural changes, etc. concerning the Movement as a whole. Chapter Update
-- This should be used by Chapter Coordinators (or those whom they have
designated) to submit status reports and announcements related to their
specific chapter. Editorial
-- An editorial is a written work that generally presents the opinion
or view of the author or publishing entity. Technically, there is no
minimum length for an Editorial, but it should be long enough to
effectively communicate your position to the reader. Try not to make it
so long that your readers lose interest before they even get through it.
Most editorials are around 1-2 pages long, single-spaced. Media Project -- If you have a work of art such as a comic/ drawing, poem, song, etc. that you'd like to share, please submit it to The Zeitgeist Media Project. Material submitted to that site will be periodically published on the Blog, under this category. Meeting Minutes
-- In addition to the recordings, at least one person per meeting
should take Notes and post them here in a fairly neat and structured
format, sometime after the meeting is over. The basic info should
include:
-Date and time of the meeting
-The purpose of the meeting (Agenda)
-Meeting coordinator(s)
-Assigned action items and people assigned
-Any decisions and/or changes made
-A link to the audio and/or video recording (If there is no recording, please specify.) News Article -- A purely factual
submission based on news reports and relevant events around the world,
as opposed to an Editorial, which includes the opinion/view of the
author. Narrative -- An original story based on relevant events, experiences, etc. that may be true or fictional. Press Release -- A general statement, typically in response to a major event, that is published on behalf of the entire Movement. Click here for detailed instructions on how to properly write and format a Press Release. Project Update
-- This entry is pertinent for keeping members of the Movement updated
on any new projects that are developing, as well as existing projects as
they progress. Submit a Project Update any time you or your peers/
teammates begin a new project, or make any progress, breakthroughs,
major changes, etc. to an existing one. Be sure to check these entries
regularly before starting a new project to ensure that there is not
already one in place that you can simply join. This will hopefully help
alleviate any scattered or diluted efforts, and instead combine them
into strong, streamlined projects and teams. (We may want to consider
including an RSS feed that links to all the individual project team PMS
sites. That way the people from those teams will only have to update one
site, their PMS site, and it will feed onto the newsletter site
automatically.) Participation Guidelines:
Please remain courteous and constructive when posting content or comments.
For information on how your participation affects your karma, please read the Comment moderation FAQ.
-----------------Helpful Tips for Getting Your Submission(s) Approved:------------------- Please note that these are by no means requirements,
but your careful consideration of these factors will not only assist
the Editors in sorting through boat loads of material, but will also
give our readers, and ultimately the Movement as a whole, a greater
sense of community and rapport, as well as improving the overall Blog
experience. Use your real name: We want to be able to share your
content with the world, including third-party organizations when
applicable, perhaps even for further publishing on other mediums. It's
more feasible to do that when we are recommending an article by John
Smith, Dr. Jane Doe, or Betty Sue, than if we have to recommend an
article by "Cupcake" or "JRider" with no background or reliable method
to contact him or her, assuming it is a "him," or assuming it is a
"her." Update your profile information: It might give
Editors (and your readers ;) a better understanding of your material if
they have even a minimal background on who you are. The general blog
community might be eager to share an amazing piece of work written by
Betty Sue the aquarist, or Bob Jones the carpenter… rather than a random
article written by an anonymous stranger. Readers may be more likely to
subscribe to your Blog's RSS feed (found on the Site Map) and "follow"
you or your activity. You can create a well-deserved presence for
yourself and your material in the blog community. Use your real photo: Same as above. We are trying to
build a community and we can't do that without building relationships.
In fact, we're striving for a social system that will one day facilitate
global empathy, meaning the whole world is the community.
People generally remember, or at least distinguish, names and faces
better than icons and aliases. More importantly, people connect with
names and faces better than generic visuals and inanimate labels. The
next time someone has an idea for a project, they'll probably remember
to contact "Billy Johnson with the red hat, smiling kind of crooked" for
help - much better than they'll remember "Alex1988 with a sunflower, or
was it a rainbow, or a Skittle, or… what was it again? Something with
colors. I think twelve other people had the same icon..." (We don't know
anyone who has the same face as you. Do you? ;) Provide sources: The members of the Newsletter Team,
while extremely dedicated, only have but so much time on their hands to
fact check everything so that we don't get burned for publishing
something that's inaccurate. If you provide links and sources to back up
whatever it is that you're talking about, you've saved us a lot of
work. Not to mention your article will be just plain awesome, and more
enjoyable for the reader. People will be saving it in their favorites
for future reference... just wait and see. You may also want to provide
convenient hyperlinks to any organizations, events, etc. that you may be
mentioning in your article. (When possible, don't forget to use the
'Insert/edit link' tool to hyperlink the words themselves, so it looks
nice and neat without all of that ugly URL formatting.) For example:
- You can learn more about this by viewing Peter Joseph's lecture. - OR -
- You can learn more about this by viewing Where Are We Going, a great lecture by Peter Joseph.
...instead of...
- You can learn more about this by watching Peter Joseph's lecture, Where Are We Going. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxPPnCW6sMo
(Once or twice is fine, but scattered randomly throughout the entire article, not so much...) Take pride in your work: Comb through it for
spelling and grammatical errors. Yes, we have a proof-reading team in
place for that, but don't be so sure it will even make it to proofing if
we can't understand it. If the content is unclear or the meaning is
lost, due to poor spelling and/or grammar, it may get rejected by
Editors beforehand. Most likely, if the content is excellent, but the
spelling and grammar needs work, Editors may send it back to you for
clarification or improvement. However, the bottom line is, with the
amount of submissions that will be coming in, it's far more productive
to publish polished submissions that require the least amount of
additional work, and perhaps get to the other stuff later. Spice it up: Nobody likes a bland article. Don't
forget to upload a thumbnail image for your submission, and feel free to
add any images throughout the body that may enhance the reader's
experience. (Okay, don't get too crazy. Keep the images relevant, and
placed neatly (resized if needed) so that we can still read your lovely
submission without having a seizure.) You may also add a video if
applicable. Granted, the written content itself may be as "colorful" as
can be, but it's usually the imagery that initially draws people in to
read it in the first place. Get creative, and remember, images from The Zeitgeist Media Project are available for anyone to use for free. :)
(Ooh, look! See what we did there, with the hyperlink? ;) Carefully categorize your content: When filling out
the submission form, don't ignore the drop-downs. (They're there for a
reason. ;) Even if you're stumped, please try your best to accurately
choose the submission 'Type' that best describes your work, and the
'Category' that it most closely relates to. It's much more difficult
(and time-consuming) for Editors to sort through and approve a bunch of
generic items submitted as "Other," than it is for them to pinpoint
content for what it is, and go from there. Similarly, if it is in fact
an "Other" (something that's not listed in the drop-down), go ahead and
categorize it as "Other" and don't fudge it to be a "Press Release" or
"Project Update," because if it isn't one, Editors will
probably assume that you don't actually know how to write a Press
Release, or that your so-called "Project" doesn't make any sense, and
reject it. Always choose a Location when applicable, and don't forget to
add tags.
That's all for now, but we may add more Helpful Tips as they arise. Happy Blogging!
Sincerely,
The Zeitgeist Movement Newsletter/Blog Team
Be sure to check out this 220 page Source Guide below which sources virtually everything. As requested by Zeitgeist creator Peter Joseph, I have replaced the original Zeitgeist movie with well over 1.25 million views with this updated for 2010 version. The meat and potato's of it are the same, there's some new information and the quality of it is improved upon.
The Zeitgeist Movement (TZM) is an explicitly nonviolent, global sustainability advocacy group currently working in over 1000 Regional Chapters across 70 countries. The basic structure of The Movement consists of Chapters, Teams, Projects & Events.
In short, the Chapters are essentially what define The Movement in operation. Each Chapter works to not only spread awareness about the roots of our social problems today but also to express the logical, rational, practical solutions we have at our disposal to update (and evolve) our current social system, enabling a truly responsible, sustainable, global society to emerge for the betterment of all the world’s people.
TZM’s education and community projects seek the intermediate goal of obtaining a unified, worldwide movement for social transformation, regardless of country, religion, political party or any such traditionally divisive distinction. TZM recognizes a common, logical value identification pertaining to our survival, sustainability and public health which inherently transcends such culturally divisive issues. Human unification, rationalized out our inalterable, shared “common ground”, is a foundational premise.
From that understanding, a self-organizing Train of Thought with respect to how we can technically (and culturally) accomplish a new social system unfolds. The various stages of this transformation (“Transition”) is not something that can be readily predicted given the uncertain state of the world today and it is not the scope of this document to expand upon the issue. What we do know is that we are experiencing great destabilization in the world due to the inherent flaws of our current social structure and the problems emerging appear to be only getting worse as time goes on. It is from this uncertainty and loss of confidence in the current model that support for a new social system might be achieved, in part.
Therefore, The Movement’s work is to expand upon this Train of Thought and publicly communicate the resulting ideas, structures and methods with the goal of establishing a new cultural “zeitgeist”; hence a new, workable social model and common value system that ensures our socio-evolutionary fitness, our safety, our freedom, our quality of life and our prosperity.
-Your Role:
To become involved in The Movement does not require any monetary contribution, submission of personal information, forms to complete or any such traditional notion of membership. Volunteer organizers and Coordinators keep no databases outside of our simple web-based mailing lists which one is certainly encouraged to register with for updates.
TZM is modeled as a “see through” entity which merely represents a Data Set & Train of Thought at its core. It is holographic and decentralized in structure to assure its effect and warrant against historically notable problems of group identification. TZM has no offices, no location, no leaders, no benefactors and no static affiliations. This Movement is really about your personal understanding of the world along with how much you identify with the observations, logical inferences and solution oriented Train of Thought denoted in The Movement’s materials. If you agree with this need to change our system, please join a Chapter, learn, educate and help contribute.
TZM currently has many community projects, events and publications, as will be explained in this document. There is also a great deal of flexibility and creativity in how a person, group or Chapter chooses to engage and develop new ideas. The Movement is emergent in form and while, again, a basic Train of Thought persists, the tactics and specifics of the Movement’s work will inevitably undergo change.
In summery, we all have the same role here: To educate ourselves; educate others; create an organized critical mass and establish tactics to enable a transition to a new social design - a design which is arrived at in form by way of The Scientific Method.
As will be mentioned later in this document, a public, open-source project known as the Global Redesign Institute will exist to create and promote direct technical design changes for social organization, building upon the most advanced understandings in the fields of Science and Technology we have at the time.
-Educational Resources:
Since 2009, a great deal of data has been generated and output through various communication mediums. Radio Shows, PDFs, Films Presentations, Articles & Lectures are the most common (our information is always free). For someone new to TZM, the following list contains suggested references for review:
2012 ORIENTATION GUIDE This is a detailed summation of virtually all relevant points for TZM. It exists in Video and expanded PDF form, the latter of which contains extensive sources and appendices.
WEBSITE FAQ TZM Global’s FAQ answers various questions, including Movement Structure specifics.
[ http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/faq#faq1 ]
LECTURES & “TOOL KIT” The Global Website’s ever emerging “Tool Kit” contains many video and text presentations, often with extended sources and references as well. While this content is predominantly in English at this time, many other Non-English presenters operate across the world can be found via the Internet. Please search for your local International Chapter’s Website and review their media as well. http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/tool-kit
Apart from these core sources, community development is large and there is always an ongoing flow of information occurring via the TZM Official Blog, Zeitnews and other participatory mediums that will be discussed in Part 3 of this guide.
-Movement Participation:
A “Member” is loosely defined as one who agrees with the tenets and approach of TZM and in turn participates in their local Chapter’s awareness actions, whether online or local. However, all Members of The Movement have their education about relevant issues as the number one requirement to proceed.
To reiterate, true “Membership” is really a subscription to the Train of Thought at hand. Hence, it is about understanding and supporting The Movement’s logical tenets and working in whatever way one can to bring about awareness and change in a responsible, strategic and nonviolent manner. More specifically, one’s communication and personal skills are important to consider here. Generally speaking, personal specialization of focus has a symbiotic social role as a characteristic of our “Group Mind”, if you will. In other words, some of us are good at some things and others are good at other things. It is the collaboration of our unique skills and interests that creates the larger order realizations. Finding your place in TZM is unique to you and your skill set.
For example, if you feel you have broad organisational skills, working with or becoming a Regional Coordinator for your Chapter might be of interest. If you are technically inclined with a background in Engineering or the like, The Global Redesign Institute might be a comfortable place. If you find your skills are more communicative and artistic, The Zeitgeist Media Project and/or Media Festival might be a good place to contribute. If you are a skilled writer and researcher, joining and contributing focused articles to TZM’s Blog might be of interest. If you are a good public speaker, give presentations at your Monthly Town Halls and/or ZDay in your region on relevant subjects. You get the idea. Focus on what you are good at.
*
2- Joining a Chapter
-Overview:
Very simply, TZM Chapters are regional Zeitgeist Movement Member Groups, organized in Tiers. From “Top to Bottom”, the current Chapter Tiers are:
International—[ Countries ]
State/Province—[ Next lower degree regional distinctions within a given Country ]
City/Town—[ Next lower degree regional distinctions within a given State or Province ]
As noted before, your involvement with your Regional Chapter is what essentially defines you as a Member of The Movement in form. You can go to the Global Website [ http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/ ] to see the Current Top Tier Chapter list [ http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/chapters ]. You can access the respective State (USA) or International Website and from there you should be able to locate the closest sub-chapter near you.
If you cannot find a Country, State or City Chapter for your region, it is then suggested you start one. Virtually all chapters have begun not by appointment, but by personal initiative. A simple review process to understand the seriousness and understanding of the applicant is assessed by existing Coordinators on a per case basis.
-Public Actions:
There are three reoccurring Public Actions for Chapters which are encouraged but naturally contingent upon the size and resources of the group: (1) Our annual “Zday” event; (2) our monthly “Town hall” event and (3) the annual Zeitgeist Media Festival. These will be discussed more in Part 4. However, each region also often has different community customs and possibilities. For example, in Los Angeles California, beach tent “vendor” posts are common on the boardwalk.
In Canada, many do street activism on a person to person basis. Some Chapters even host their own internet radio shows and produce their own media/newsletters based on custom research.
Part of working with your Chapter is being creative and explorative. In the end, the basic goal is still the same: Expose the root problems of our current system and then show the logic behind a new one.
-Meetings:
Chapters naturally need to have the ability to enable communication among its Members, along with other Chapters. As a Chapter grows, periodic Meetings should be conducted in live and/or virtual (online) settings.
TZM Global provides an Internet-Based Voice/Chat program which can be found here: http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/teamspeak
Chapter Meetings typically occur in Tiers with Chapter Coordinators on their respective level. For example, the North Carolina State Chapter, assuming no sub-chapters (city) within it, would have a meeting with all NC Members present. However, in the meetings of the next largest Tier, the Country level (USA in this case), there would only be Coordinators of each State, not all the USA Members. This narrowing is for the sake of comprehension as it would be too difficult to have Global Meetings with tens of thousands of Members at once.
-Questions: If you have a question relating to Chapter Organization which is not answered in the follow links: http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/faq http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/chapters
You may email directly via the Contact Form on this page: (select “Chapters” category): http://thezeitgeistmovement.com/contact-us
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3- Websites, News & Project Contribution
Apart from signing up with the Global and Regional Mailing lists, there is a wealth of emerging information outlets and interactive mediums. These Websites and Projects are community driven, always free and have proven to be extremely effective. Most items noted below can be found via the Global Website’s home page as well.
-TZM Official Blog: http://blog.thezeitgeistmovement.com/
Member contribution via TZM Blog is a very effective way to give you, your chapter and important issues exposure. Many categories of interest from Economics, History, Science and Activism enable a tremendous platform for expression as an online newsletter and blog. Relevant articles that gain popularity also are highlighted via our Press Releases.
Please see the How-To Guide to start contributing: http://blog.thezeitgeistmovement.com/contribute
-TZM Global Radio: Started in 2009, TZM Global Radio is a Weekly Radio program presented by various coordinators/lecturers of The Zeitgeist Movement in a rotational fashion. It is here where ongoing public updates, news and announcements occur. Each Show occurs at 4pm Eastern Standard time every Wednesday via BlogTalkRadio.com: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/zmglobal
Info and Archive Page: http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/radio_shows
*Note: While the Global Radio Show is the most conclusive, other programs of great merit also exist, including Programs via the “Zeitgeist Broadcasting Network” (ZBN): http://www.stickam.com/zbnlive
-Zeitgeist Media Project: http://zeitgeistmediaproject.com/ The Zeitgeist Media Project is an online hub for Artistic Media Content which can be uploaded and shared. The media types range from Video, Visual Art, Music/Audio, Literature and more. This content is mostly Creative Commons and is designed to be downloaded and used by other members in their work.
-ZeitNews: http://www.zeitnews.org/
Started in 2010. Zeitnews is an amazing source for advanced Scientific Research. Subjects of interest include Energy, Transportation, Biotechnology, Robotics and other important issues that relate science and technology to human prosperity.
Members may also contribute to the online publication: http://www.zeitnews.org/about/
The Global Redesign Institute is a Think Tank project currently in development. This advanced concept will create a virtual projection, region by region of what an accurate and up to date social infrastructure would comprise, sidestepping the traditionally inhibiting factors of money and establishment preservation. This project is about designing and expressing what is technically possible - not what is “affordable”. More on this project will be announced when it becomes operational.
-”Why I Advocate” Campaign: http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/why-i-advocate
The Zeitgeist Movement’s “Why I Advocate TZM” Media Testimonial Campaign is a video blog project which gives personal perspectives and faces to The Zeitgeist Movement. This is very simple. Members simple make a public video about why they feel the need to change the world and identify with The Zeitgeist Movement. This is also a good way to show community support in general.
Current submissions can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=why+I+advocate+zeitgeist&aq=f
-Social Networks: TZM Global Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tzmglobal TZM Global Twitter: http://twitter.com/tzmglobal TZM Global Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/TZMOfficialChannel
Apart from the traditional Social Networks listed above, a hybrid project known as “TZM Social” has also emerged: http://www.tzmnetwork.com/
All members are encourage to review and contribute to these social mediums considering how powerful they have become culturally as a whole. Also, Regional Chapters and Projects are encouraged to initiate their own Networks via these medium for their own promotional purposes. ( I.E. a Youtube account assigned to your local chapter for display of your Town Halls, Zday events and the like.)
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4- TZM Events and Activism
As noted prior, Chapters and hence Members have a few core (Global) periodic actions which are encouraged. These include, ZDay, ZMedia Fest and Monthly Town halls. Paired with these actions is our ZDrive food bank support and similar resource charity programs to help those in need. (more below*)
-Zeitgeist Day (“ZDay”): http://zdayglobal.org/
“Zeitgeist Day”, or ZDay for short, is an annual, global event day which occurs in the middle of March, each year. The goal is to increase public awareness of The Zeitgeist Movement. A Zeitgeist Day event can take many forms, ranging from a simple showing of DVD media; to full lectures and interactive question-and-answer events with Chapter Organizers in various regions. The 2010 ZDay there were 330 sympathetic events occurred in over 70 countries worldwide.
Each year, there is a “Main Event” which serves as a highlight, with more publicly notable speakers and guests. In 2009 and 2010, the Main event was in NYC; In 2011 it was in London, UK & in 2012 - Vancouver BC.
Please review the Official ZDay Website for more information: http://zdayglobal.org/
The Zeitgeist Movement’s Town Hall Meetings are live, public events conducted by Official Regional Chapters. These localized events are similar in function to our annual global “Zeitgeist Day” (ZDAY) events but ideally occur monthly, rather than annually. Modelled after patterns proven effective by civil right’s movements historically, the goal is to inform the public of TZM’s understandings and goals and hence grow awareness and membership. To learn more; submit an event for your regions, please see: http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/townhalls
-Zeitgeist Media Festival: http://zeitgeistmediafestival.org/
Recognizing the power of art and media to help change the world, “The Zeitgeist Media Festival” engages the artistic community and its power to change values. It proposes that needed changes in the structural/economic workings of society can only manifest in tandem with a personal/social transformation of values in each of us. While intellectual knowledge serves its role of showing the path, many in the world follow their feelings- not the knowledge. The Zeitgeist Media Festival hopes to bridge those levels, while also illuminating a focus where changing and improving the world is no longer considered a fringe or suspect pursuit.
Participating in The Media Festival does not mean each event must meet some strict requirement of focus. However, participation does require that each act understand and agree with a general train of thought with respect to human and social sustainability.
The Zeitgeist Media Festival occurs in the Summer of each year. More info: http://zeitgeistmediafestival.org/site/index-1.html
-*ZDrive: The Zeitgeist Movement’s Charity Drive or “ZDrive” is a program to engage local social service institutions in conjunction with ongoing awareness events. The most common have been our Food Drives and Clothes Drives. For example, the Zeitgeist Media Festival Globally raised via donation about 12,000 meals for the poor in 2011. Resource donations are encouraged more than monetary contributions to avoid corruption.
How you conduct your ZDrive is contingent upon your region and its needs. Typically, a suggested donation of resources is welcomed upon entry to your event, such as the bringing of canned food for your local Food Bank. Since each region has different programs, it is suggested you contact your local charities to see how your Chapter can help.
So, if possible, every time you have a ZDay, Town Hall or Media Event, please conduct a ZDrive as well and have attendees bring resources for local charity.
In turn, please keep track of the statistical results of your charity work and email it us so we can keep a running global total of its effect. This is not only a wonderful action to help the many communities now in desperate need of support, it gives TZM a layer of traditional identification for those who might otherwise see the social ideas as “too radical” to be practical.
Stats email: media@thezeitgeistmovement.com
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5- Advice and Summary
The preceding data should give new Members a great deal to think about and work with. It is important to remind the reader that TZM is a movement of ideas and values at its core. It is also Social in its very nature. In many ways, those who understand, volunteer and work with this global community to help improve the world are a proxy of how our society could be if social responsibility and environmental respect finally rose to its needed place.
However, there is no denying that what is sought in this journey is likely the most difficult and controversial undertaking one can have. No one said this would be easy. Yet the level of difficulty at hand means nothing compared to the dire nature of its necessity. This Movement is not for the weak of heart or those without self-confidence. One factor that makes internal community support critical to our success is the reality that we are not likely to see much external support for sometime to come. Historically, those ahead of their time who have sought to change the world have always been deemed subversive, agitators or even terrorists. Society and its established values seems to not look well upon broad social changes regardless of how much it may be needed or the logic of its merit.
Regardless, this changes nothing for those of us who actually care and as time moves forward, the trends of social turmoil and destabilization seem to indicate that a larger and larger subculture is emerging which recognizes this need for this larger scale change and it is the role of TZM to help make sure a viable solution is put forward as this evolution continues.
